Tired of Spinning Plates

A project to understand and improve the mental health experiences of carers of adults with learning disabilities. 

Hello, my name is Clare Kassa and I am Chief Executive at Sibs, the UK charity supporting siblings of disabled children and adults. I’m passionate about siblings and disability.  I’m also a research team member for a new  project called Tired of spinning plates: an exploration of the mental health experiences of adults and/or older carers of adults with learning disabilities.

Often when people talk about carers in the media or in research, they think about people caring for older adults but carers of adults with learning disabilities make up a quarter of all carers in the UK.

We know little about the experiences of carers of adults with learning disabilities. We want to find out more about their lives, how caring impacts on their mental health, in positive and perhaps less positive ways.  We want to know about the support and services they currently receive and what carers think about the quality and availability of that support.  And, most importantly, we’d like to know what support they would find helpful.

The research involves carers, people with learning disabilities and researchers working together.  We will use what we find out to produce information for carers and for people with learning disabilities as well as teaching and learning materials for professionals working with carers of adults with learning disabilities.

There are lots of ways for you to get involved.

You can be part of a group of carers and people with learning disabilities that are going to advise and guide the university researchers. 

Or you can be part of a group of carers that is going to design a survey about carers’ mental health with support from  university researchers. And, of course, you can take part by filling in the survey.

And finally, you can take part in online interviews and storytelling workshops to make a short film about your experiences. 

If you want to find out more, please contact either Katherine or Sara:

Katherine Runswick-Cole (Lead Applicant)

Professor of Education

Address: The School of Education

Edgar Allen House

University of Sheffield

241 Glossop Road

Sheffield

S10 2GW

Telephone: 0114 222 8101

Email: k.runswick-cole@sheffield.ac.uk

Sara Ryan (Joint Lead Applicant)

Professor of Social Care 

Address: Department of Social Care and Social Work

Manchester Metropolitan University

Brooks Building, Birley Campus

53 Bonsall Street

Manchester M15 6GX

Email: sara.ryan@mmu.ac.uk

Get in touch by email at CarerMHSpinningPlates@sheffield.ac.uk

Follow us on Twitter @SpinPlatesCare